Brief information about the work
Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels was first published in 1726 . Its full title is “Travels to Some Distant Countries of the World by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and Then a Captain of Several Ships.” In it, the author wittily and vividly describes social and human vices. In the fourth part of this work, the concentrate of human vices is the humanoid creatures Yahoos. The genre of this work by Swift is a fantastic satirical-philosophical novel. This article presents a summary and brief retelling of the novel translated by B. Engelhardt.
Gulliver took to the streets of the city. The first giant doll appeared at the Kurgan Theater
Waving his arms and looking at passers-by, Gulliver walked through the streets of Kurgan. This three-meter tall character from Jonathan Swift’s novel is a symbol of the Kurgan puppet theater. On the promenade, Gulliver in the very first seconds became the object of attention of the townspeople.
The giant doll for the Kurgan artists was made by an artist from Penza, Valentin Viktorov. Viewers of the Gulliver Theater know him from the play “Angel”.
The three-meter Gulliver is controlled by three actors. Vladimir Lazarev took upon himself great responsibility, in every sense of the word. The doll weighs more than 10 kilograms. According to the actor, the design is thought out in detail, and the weight is evenly distributed.
“I see people, what’s happening around, where people are going, what they’re doing. There are no difficulties with this. I think I'm quite physically trained. “I can carry a doll for half an hour without any difficulty,” shared the actor of the “Gulliver” puppet theater Vladimir Lazarev.
The giant doll is the first in our theater. Vladimir Lazarev tried on the image of a three-meter Gulliver for only the second time. So far there have been some incidents. Gulliver wanted to get acquainted with the theater's repertoire, which was hanging on the street, and accidentally touched the lantern with his hat.
“I’m still getting used to the doll and understanding what it’s capable of.” Curbs and streetlights are warning signs that I can avoid this next time,” added actor Lazarev.
The other two artists are not only responsible for Gulliver's hands, but also are his eyes and ears. Without coordinated work, a successful walk will not happen. You can meet Gulliver on the streets of Kurgan in dry and warm weather.
The giant doll is not the only surprise that the Gulliver troupe has prepared for the audience. On September 26, the theater will begin a new season. It will open with a street performance “Made in Ural” about the alien Alyoshenka.
The premiere of the performance based on the poetry of the Silver Age “Stay with me” is planned for the end of October. The director is the actress of the Gulliver puppet theater Tatyana Lenyashina.
— Speaking about the performances of the next season, I would like to mention the performance that I am really looking forward to. “Where there is no winter” based on the story by Dina Sabitova. This work is exciting because a top-level artist from Poland, Alexander Vakhrameev, will come to Kurgan. Before that, he produced only two performances in Russia, and both in St. Petersburg,” said Dmitry Shishanov, chief director of the Gulliver puppet theater.
Also in November, the Dream of Flight festival will return to the walls of Gulliver. The event will be dedicated to the theater's anniversary.
Characters of the first part of the novel
- The Emperor of Lilliput treated Gulliver well and hoped for his help in conquering the island state of Blefuscu.
- Emperor Blefuscu wanted Gulliver to stay on his island, but since he did not agree, he helped him equip a boat so that he could go home.
- Reldresel - Secretary of State of Lilliput, friend of Gulliver.
- Flimnap - Lord Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) of Lilliput, enemy of Gulliver.
- Skyresh Bolgolam is a galbet (that is, admiral) of the Lilliputian fleet who hated Gulliver.
Summary of Jonathan Swift's novel "Gulliver's Travels"
A brief retelling of the adventures of the London surgeon Lemuel Gulliver will tell about his many interesting and dangerous journeys. In short, they do not seem long, but they lasted almost seventeen years. During this time, the hero traveled almost the entire globe and met many unusual settlers.
Part 1. Journey to Lilliput
The work begins with a description of the life of Doctor Gulliver. The father was a poor landowner, but gave his son a good education. After school, the hero studied at the medical department in Cambridge, and after his student days he took medicine lessons from Dr. Bates. After completing his studies, he became a surgeon and worked by profession on a ship.
After three years, he decides to marry the daughter of a hosiery merchant, Mary Burton. Together they settle in London. After the death of the medical teacher Bets, the hero had to go back to being a surgeon on the ship. Many years later, Gulliver and the crew of the ship are caught in a storm, the ship is wrecked. The entire crew of the ship dies, except for the main character, who manages to swim to land, after sleeping from fatigue for nine hours.
Waking up, the doctor finds himself tied with thin ropes, surrounded by small men, some of whom are climbing on him. When they try to free themselves, they start shooting with small arrows, the doctor decides to wait for darkness to fight back.
Miniature men are building a bridge nearby, where the leader of a small people named Gurgo rises. He speaks for a long time in an unknown language.
Gulliver shows that he is hungry and is fed. The victim is not released, but the wounds are smeared with an unknown mixture. Mix sleeping pills into water and give them to drink. The hero passes out and is transported to the capital, where the emperor meets him. They chain him up and put him in an old temple.
They sew a big mattress for the Hero and teach him his language. During the search, the doctor manages to secretly keep two pistols and cartridges with gunpowder.
Gulliver learns that Lilliput is at war with the neighboring empire of Blefuscu and is bringing all their ships to the Lilliputians. During a fire in the emperor's palace, the hero urinates on it to put it out. Chancellor Flimnap, jealous of his wife for Gulliver, draws up an indictment. Fearing for his life, the hero flees to neighboring Blefusca, from where he returns to his family.
Part 2. Journey to Brobdingnag (Country of Giants)
A few months later, Gulliver, while traveling, gets caught in a storm. The ship goes off route. Soon the team lands on an unfamiliar land inhabited by giants.
He ends up in the family of a kind giant farmer, whose family sits him down at the table, sews clothes, gives the doll's crib to his daughter, teaches him the giant language, and calls him by name Grildrig. The Doctor travels with a farmer through the land of giants in Brobdingnag, speaking to audiences.
Fearing for the life of the thin hero, the farmer sells him to the queen, where scientists study him.
The hero travels with the queen around the country, entertaining her family. Tells the king about the laws and traditions of his country. Three years later, while relaxing on the beach in a special box, Gulliver is carried away by an eagle, dropped into the sea, where he is picked up by an English ship.
Part 3. Travel to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnegg, Glubbdobbrib and Japan
During the next voyage, the ship is attacked by pirates and the entire crew is taken prisoner. Gulliver is disembarked on a boat into the open ocean.
Having reached the ground, he sees the floating island of Laputa. Laputans have an unusual appearance: their head is tilted to the side, one eye looks up, the other inward. They are interested in music, mathematics, and wives often cheat on their husbands.
Myunodi allows the hero to live in his house. The Doctor visits local professors from the Academy of Searchlights, who are trying to get gunpowder from ice, rays of the sun from cucumbers, start building a house from the roof, and make yarn from cobwebs. The Doctor travels to the Laputan islands.
On the island of wizards Glabbdobbdrib, the spirits of Caesar, Hannibal, Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Descartes, as well as ordinary people, are summoned for him.
Then he goes to the island of Luggnagg. The Laggnaggians seem to Gulliver to be kind and polite, among them there are immortals - the Struldbrugs, who hate their fate and often mope.
When they reach old age, they dream of death.
Traveling further, the hero reaches Japan, from there he is released home.
Part 4. Journey to the country of the Houyhnhnms
After several years, Gulliver is appointed captain of the ship. Due to a lack of experience, for his team he selects bandits who, during his travels, dropped him off on an unfamiliar land. After the attack of the monkeys, he is found by horses speaking incomprehensibly.
They teach the words “Houyhnhnm” - that’s what horses call themselves, and “yahoos” - the humanoid primates that horses keep on a leash. The horse takes the hero to him, teaches him his language, and shows him to noble horses.
Gulliver tells the gray horse about his civilization and its attitude towards horses. The horse confesses to the disgusting nature of the Yahoos, who follow only vice. The hero notes reasonable consistent actions in horses. He wants to stay forever with the amazing Houyhnhnms.
The Great Council concludes that Gulliver must be kept with the Yahoos or sent home. The doctor, on a pirogue he built with his own hands, gets to Australia, where unfriendly aborigines attack and injure him.
From there the hero is rescued by a ship heading to Lisbon. After adapting to life in society, with the help of the ship's captain Pedro de Mendez, the hero safely gets home to his family.
Characters of the second part of the novel
- Glumdalklich is the nine-year-old daughter of a giant farmer, Gulliver’s “nanny”, a kind, caring girl.
- The giant farmer is a greedy man who showed Gulliver at fairs for money.
- The King of Brobdingnag is a wise ruler of a country of giants, to whom the morals of the English are alien.
- The Queen bought Gulliver from the farmer and treated him with care.
- The queen's dwarf is an evil man who hated Gulliver and tried to harm him.
Other characters
- Skyresh Bolgolam and Flimnap are Gulliver's ill-wishers in Lilliput.
- Reldresel - Secretary of State in Lilliput
- The giant farmer showed Gulliver at fairs for money.
- The King of Brobdingnag is a wise ruler who was alien to the morals of the English.
- Queen of Brobdingnag - bought Gulliver from the farmer.
- Munodi is a dignitary in Balnibarbi who ran his household according to the old rules.
And we also have:
for the busiest -
Reader's diary "Gulliver's Travels"
A very brief summary for a reader's diary
Part 1. Journey to Lilliput
One day the ship "Antelope" crashed into a rock in a storm. The ship's doctor Gulliver swam to land and fell asleep on the lawn. When he woke up, it turned out that his whole body was entangled with little men with ropes, and he could not get up. The little men made a platform, harnessed many horses to it and transported Gulliver to the capital. It turned out that he ended up in the country of Lilliput. The Lilliputian emperor placed him in a high temple and ordered him to be chained by his leg. When Gulliver stood up to his full height, everyone was surprised and began to call him the Mountain Man.
Lilliput was at war with the island nation of Blefuscu. The Lilliputians asked Gulliver to protect them from the impending landing of enemies. He crossed the strait, hooked 50 enemy warships and brought them to the shores of Lilliput.
Gulliver learned that his enemies had convinced the emperor that he needed to gouge out his eyes. Therefore, he left Lilliput for Blefuscu, and from there sailed on a boat to England. On the way, he met an English ship, which quickly took him to his homeland.
Part 2. Journey to Brobdingnag
Going on a sea voyage again, Gulliver found himself in the land of giants. A farmer's worker found him in the field and gave him to the owner. He began to show Gulliver at fairs. During his trips, Gulliver was looked after by the nine-year-old daughter of the farmer Glumdalklich. The queen bought Gulliver from a farmer, and hired the girl to look after this little man.
Gulliver became acquainted with the land of giants, accompanying the king and queen on trips. This country is located on a peninsula and is limited on one side by high mountains.
The king often had conversations with Gulliver and concluded that the history of England is a heap of murders, conspiracies and unrest.
One day, while traveling with the king and queen along the southern coast, Gulliver's box was carried away by an eagle. In a fight with other eagles, he released the ring on the lid of the box from his beak. The box floated on the waves of the sea, was noticed by sailors and lifted onto the ship on which Gulliver returned to England.
Part 3. Travel to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnegg, Glubbdobbrib and Japan
Soon Gulliver again joined the ship as a doctor. One day he was captured by pirates. They put him in a boat without oars and left him at sea. Arriving at the island, Gulliver saw a floating island in the air, and the people who were on it lifted Gulliver onto a seat with a chain up.
It was the flying island of Laputa. The Laputans are very absent-minded people, busy with meaningless inventions, unable to properly build houses and run a household. The king is the ruler of the island and the lands below. If rebel citizens do not pay taxes, the king may order their city to be crushed by a floating island.
Gulliver then visited the wizard island of Glabbdobbrib, where he communicated with Alexander the Great and other famous people who died but were briefly resurrected by wizards.
He also visited the kingdom of Luggnagg, where he had to lick the dust at the foot of the throne - this was considered a favor from the king. Gulliver learned that among the Laggnaz there are immortals who are not happy about this, since they are overcome by illness and weakness.
Then Gulliver got to Japan, boarded a ship there and returned home a few months later.
Part 4. Journey to the country of the Houyhnhnms
Gulliver became the captain of a merchant ship. Part of the crew turned out to be pirates. They put the captain ashore. There was a country where intelligent horses (Houyhnhnms) and disgusting humanoid creatures lived, called Yahoos.
The Houyhnhnms had many virtues. Gulliver began to live with a gray horse, who often talked to him. The Council of Representatives of the Houyhnhnm Nation decided to expel Gulliver, whom the council members mistook for a Yahoo.
He sailed on a boat he built to the island. There he was picked up by sailors, and after some time Gulliver returned to England.
About the product
Swift first published Gulliver's Travels in 1726. The work is a classic of moral and political satirical literature. In the novel, the author exposes and ridicules social and human vices using the example of the states of Lilliputians and giants, the island of Laputa, and the kingdom of Balnibarbi. The concentration of human vices in the work are the ape-like creatures Yahoos.
On the site you can read online a summary of Gulliver's Travels chapter by chapter. A retelling of the work is suitable for a reading diary, preparation for a lesson or a test.
The material was prepared jointly with the highest category teacher Lyubov Alexandrovna Koroshchup.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 30 years.
A brief retelling of parts and chapters (more detailed than a summary)
Part 1. Journey to Lilliput
Chapter 1
On May 4, 1699, Gulliver set off on a voyage on the three-masted brig Antelope. He got a job on this brig as a ship's doctor. This was not his first trip. On the way back, Gulliver always wrote down his travel adventures. And now he also took a thick notebook with him to keep a diary.
One day, the Antelope was overtaken by a terrible storm, and the ship crashed against a rock. Only Gulliver and five sailors managed to escape, but their boat capsized and the sailors drowned. Gulliver managed to swim to land. There he lay down on the lawn and fell fast asleep.
Having woken up, Gulliver wanted to get up, but could not move. His whole body was entangled with ropes that were tied to pegs stuck in the ground. Someone climbed on top of him and stopped at his chin. Gulliver saw that it was a tiny man, three fingers tall. After the first little man, about four dozen more of these little men climbed onto it. Gulliver screamed in surprise, the little men got scared and jumped to the ground.
Gulliver managed to free his hand, but the little men began to fire arrows at him. He decided to wait until nightfall and then be free.
The little people built a platform next to him, onto which an important man climbed and began to speak. Gulliver did not understand the language of these little men. He was very hungry and asked for food - he raised his finger and brought it to his mouth several times.
Having placed ladders on Gulliver's sides, hundreds of little men brought him food. In order to transfer him to the capital by order of the emperor, sleeping powder was mixed into his drink. Carpenters built a huge platform, engineers made devices to place the prisoner on it, and fifteen hundred horses brought him to the capital.
The emperor ordered him to be accommodated in the largest building. It was a temple almost as tall as a man. The prisoner could crawl into it and lie there, stretched out to his full height. One of his legs was shackled in 91 chains. They were so long that he could walk in front of the temple.
The guards cut the ropes, and Gulliver rose to his feet.
Chapter 2
This country was called Lilliput. Everything in it was small: trees and houses. The emperor rode up to Gulliver on a white horse and asked the prisoner about something, but he did not know the language of the Lilliputians, and the emperor did not understand his speech.
The townspeople looked at the Man-Mountain, but the guards did not allow them to approach him. When the emperor left, some mischievous people began to shoot arrows at Gulliver from bows. The mischief makers were tied up and given to him. He put five of them in his pocket and began to examine one. The man screamed in horror. Gulliver felt sorry for him, he cut the ropes on the little man with a knife and lowered him to the ground. He also released the other Lilliputians.
At the council, the emperor listened to the opinions of ministers and advisers on what to do with Gulliver. Some of the council members suggested starving the prisoner to death or killing him with poisoned arrows. But the emperor, having learned that he had taken pity on the six mischief-makers, did not agree to this. He provided Gulliver with 600 servants and mentors to teach him the Lilliputian language.
The Emperor feared that the prisoner had weapons and ordered two officials to search him. Gulliver put the officials in his pockets. When they examined all the pockets (except for two sentry pockets and one secret one), they presented the emperor with an inventory of the items found there. In this inventory they called Gulliver Quinbus-Flestrin, that is, Man-Mountain.
When the inventory was read to the emperor, he politely asked the Mountain Man to give him the saber and pistols. He gave up the weapon, as well as the watch and money that were in his watch pockets, a comb, a handkerchief, a notebook, a razor and a knife. The Emperor ordered all this to be returned to Gulliver, except for the pistols and saber.
Only Gulliver did not show the pocket telescope and glasses lying in a secret pocket to the officials, since they could easily be broken.
Chapter 3
The Emperor liked the Mountain Man because of his peaceful nature and decided to entertain him with an acrobatic performance.
Only those Lilliputians who applied for the vacant position of a minister or other important official were allowed to dance on a tightrope. This position was given to the one who jumped the highest.
Sometimes ministers also have to dance on a tightrope so that the emperor can make sure that they have not lost their abilities. Flimnap, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, enjoys special fame for his jumping. Secretary of State Reldresel, who became Gulliver's friend, takes second place in jumping after the chancellor.
Gulliver came up with entertainment for the emperor. He drove sticks into the ground, pulled a handkerchief over them, and nailed four more sticks parallel to the ground on top of the edges of the handkerchief - they formed a barrier. The emperor, at his request, allocated 24 cavalrymen, they divided into two detachments and began military maneuvers. The Emperor really liked this battle.
Soon the emperor ordered a parade. He ordered the Mountain Man to spread his legs, and the commander-in-chief to lead the infantry and cavalry in a ceremonial march between his legs, as if under an arch.
Gulliver submitted many petitions to the emperor for release, and finally the state council decided to release him, and the chains were removed from the Man-Mountain.
Chapter 4
Gulliver examined the capital of Lilliput, Mildendo, and the imperial palace. One day, Secretary of State Reldresel said that the struggle between two parties had intensified in the kingdom: supporters of low heels and high heels. And at this time the empire of Blefuscu threatens Lilliput with invasion. The reason for the war was a disagreement over which end to break eggs from: the blunt end or the sharp end. The Emperor of Lilliput issued a decree that eggs should be broken from the sharp end. The disobedient Lilliputians found refuge in the empire of Blefuscu and persuaded its emperor to start a war with Lilliput. The war has been going on for 36 moons. Now the enemy is preparing to land a landing force on Lilliput. Gulliver promised the Secretary of State to protect Lilliput from enemy invasion.
Chapter 5
Having learned from the sailors the depth of the strait between Lilliput and the island of Blefuscu, Gulliver realized that he would cross it on foot. He approached the island, hooked 50 large warships with hooks that were at the ends of the ropes and delivered them to the port of Lilliput. For this, the emperor granted him the highest title - the title of nardak.
Soon the emperor wanted Man-Mountain to capture the rest of the enemy ships, as he wanted to conquer Blefuscu, but he did not agree, because he did not want to be guilty of enslaving the brave people.
Chapter 6
Lorl Chancellor of the Exchequer Flimnap hated Gulliver, was jealous of his title of Nardak and, in addition, was jealous of his wife. He informed the emperor that maintaining the Mountain Man was very expensive and that it was better to expel him from Lilliput.
Chapter 7
From one of the courtiers, Gulliver learned that his enemies Flimnap and the admiral of the royal fleet Skyresh Bolgolam accused him of treason and demanded that he be executed. But the intercession of Secretary of State Reldresel led to the decision not to kill the Man-Mountain, but to gouge out his eyes.
Having learned this, Gulliver hurried to Blefuscu and was graciously received by the emperor of this state.
Chapter 8
Three days later, the tide brought the boat to the shore. Gulliver made oars, and the Emperor of Blefuscu ordered to provide him with everything necessary for the sea voyage, and Gulliver left the island. Soon he met an English ship and brought Gulliver to England. He spent very little time with his family and again set off on a journey on the merchant ship Adventure.
Part 2. Journey to Brobdingnag
Chapter 1
During a storm, the Adventure ship was carried to the east, and the sailors did not know in which part of the world they were. Seeing land, they sailed there in a longboat, hoping to find fresh water there. Gulliver, not finding water, returned to the shore and saw that the sailors on the longboat were trying to swim away from a giant man. This giant failed to catch up with the longboat. Gulliver rushed away. There was very tall grass around. Walking through a field of barley, Gulliver saw a man as tall as a bell tower, who called seven of the same giants, began to give them instructions, and they set off to reap barley.
One of the workers noticed Gulliver, gave him to the owner, and he took him home. When his family began to have dinner, Gulliver was placed on the table and given food.
Chapter 2
The farmer's nine-year-old daughter took great care of Gulliver. She gave him the name Grildrig (little man, dwarf), and he called her Glumdalklich, that is, nanny. The girl taught him the language of giants.
The farmer's neighbors came to see Gulliver. One of them advised the farmer to show it off as a curiosity in the city. On trips and at performances, the girl guarded Gulliver. The farmer took it to the capital, stopping in every city and receiving a lot of money for showing it.
Chapter 3
In the capital, the royal adjutant demanded that Gulliver be brought to the palace for the queen's entertainment. The queen bought him from a farmer, and Gulliver asked her to take Glumdalclitch into her service.
The king often asked Gulliver about European morals, religion and much more.
Gulliver was very jealous of the queen's dwarf. He was the smallest man in the land of giants, and now he was proud that he was taller than Gulliver. Once he threw it into a cup of cream, another time he stuck it into an empty bone.
Chapter 4
Gulliver explored the land of giants when he accompanied the queen on her trips. A special travel box was made for him, which Glumdalklich placed on her lap.
The Kingdom of the Giants is a peninsula bounded on one side by a high mountain range, and on the other three it is surrounded by the ocean.
Chapter 5
Because of his height, Gulliver was exposed to various troubles. Either apples the size of a barrel fell on him when the dwarf shook the apple tree, then he was knocked down by hailstones the size of tennis balls, then the gardener's dog grabbed him in his teeth and brought him to his owner. One day a kite rushed at him, but Gulliver boldly defended himself with a dirk.
There were many more annoying adventures, and the most dangerous of them was the adventure with the cook's monkey. She climbed through the window into the room, grabbed Gulliver and climbed onto the roof. When the monkey saw that people were climbing the stairs after him, he threw Gulliver onto the ridge of the roof, and a brave servant saved him.
Chapter 6
Gulliver made various crafts, for example, he made himself a comb from the shaved stubble of the king. He wove backs and seats for chairs from the queen's hair and presented these small chairs to the queen. She showed them to everyone as a rarity.
One day Gulliver told the king the history of England over the last century. The king said that “this story is nothing more than a bunch of conspiracies, unrest, murders, beatings.”
Chapter 7
Gulliver told the king that he knew how to make a powder that would ignite with a spark. With the help of this powder, cannonballs can be fired from a cannon and destroy fortress walls. He offered to teach the king's craftsmen how to make cannons, but the king indignantly refused this.
The king despised the art of government, which Gulliver spoke about, because he hated tricks and intrigues and believed that the state should be governed fairly and impartially.
The laws in the land of giants are written very clearly and concisely. Giants study only ethics, history, mathematics and poetry, and the main task of mathematics in this country is to improve agriculture and branches of technology.
Chapter 8
One day, Gulliver, accompanying the king and queen on a journey to the southern coast, ordered a servant to put the box in which he was traveling towards the sea. The eagle grabbed the ring on the lid of the box with its beak and soared up. When he was attacked by other eagles, he released the box from his beak. Gulliver found himself at sea. He opened the top door and began loudly calling for help, waving a handkerchief tied to a stick. He was spotted from the ship and rescued, and nine months later he returned to his homeland.
Part 3. Travel to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnegg, Glubbdobbrib and Japan
Chapter 1
Soon Gulliver set off on a journey again, becoming a surgeon on the ship Good Hope. The journey began on August 5, 1706.
In Tonkin, the ship had to stay for several months, since the goods the captain needed were not yet prepared. The captain sent Gulliver on a sloop with various goods to the neighboring islands so that he could sell these goods there.
Under Gulliver's command there were 14 people on the sloop. The storm drove the sloop for five days to the northeast, and then to the east. On the tenth day, the sloop was caught up by two pirate ships. Among the pirates was a Dutchman who hated the English. He especially hated Gulliver and got the pirate captains to order him to be placed in a small sailing boat, given provisions for four days and left at sea.
Gulliver noticed several islands on the horizon and visited them. When he was on the last fifth island, he saw a large black body moving towards the island. It was about two miles above the surface of the earth and began to descend. There were people on it, and Gulliver began to shout to them. The flying island approached the island, people from there lowered a chain with a seat, and lifted Gulliver up.
Chapter 2
The people on the flying island looked strange. Their heads were slanted to the side, one eye looked up, and the other squinted inward.
People dressed as servants held sticks to which bubbles inflated with air were tied. They were filled with pebbles or dry peas. The inhabitants of the flying island are constantly immersed in thought and cannot communicate without physical impact on the organs of hearing and speech. That's why rich people have special servants - flappers. They lightly tap the lips of the one who needed to speak to the interlocutors, and the right ear of the one who was listening. And if the gentleman is walking, the flapper pats him on the eyes from time to time so that he does not collide with passers-by, hit a pole or fall into a hole.
The king also had clappers. When the noble Laputans and Gulliver came to the palace, the king was busy solving a difficult problem. Two pages noticed that he had solved the problem, and one of them respectfully slapped the bubble on his lips. The king shuddered, saw Gulliver and asked him several questions, but he did not understand the language of the islanders. The king assigned him a teacher to teach Gulliver the local language. In this language, many expressions are borrowed from music and mathematics.
The flying island was called Laputa, and the capital of the kingdom, Lagado, was located on the ground.
It took four and a half days to get to Lagado. The houses in the city were distorted, as the Laputans despise applied geometry. They were versed only in higher mathematics and music. They were also very interested in political news and constantly expected some kind of disaster. They could talk about this for hours.
Chapter 3
The king allowed Gulliver to explore the island. This flying or floating island has the shape of a circle. Its base is a diamond slab on which lie layers of rocks covered with chernozem.
There is an astronomical cave in the center of the island. It is deep and located in the thickness of the diamond. It contains a large magnet, with the help of which the island can move, rise and fall. But he is only able to move over the domains of King Laputa.
If in any city the population refuses to pay taxes, the king orders the island to be stopped over this city and its environs. Then, without rain and sun, people begin to starve and get sick. If the king wants to punish them more, he orders huge stones to be thrown onto the city to destroy the houses. And if people still don’t start paying tribute, the island falls on their city and everyone dies.
Chapter 4
Gulliver asked the king for permission to leave the island, and he was lowered to land near Lagado. The continental possessions of the king of Laputa are called Balnibarbi. Gulliver reached the capital and gave the dignitary Munodi a letter of recommendation, which his patron, a relative of the king, had given him in Laputa.
Munodi showed the guest the capital. The houses there were built strangely, many of the houses were dilapidated. Passers-by walked around in rags.
Outside the city, peasants worked in the fields with the help of various tools, but no plants were visible in the fields.
Munodi said that about forty years ago, several residents of the capital visited Laputa and there they were filled with contempt for the way life worked in Balnibarbi. They rebuilt all sciences, art, laws, language and technology in a new way, and since then the population has been starving and houses are falling apart.
Munodi himself does not innovate, so his fields have large harvests.
Chapters 5–6
Gulliver inspected the Academy of Projectors in the capital. The professors there are inventing, but their projects are very strange. For example, one scientist has been developing a project for extracting sunlight from cucumbers for eight years, while another tried to turn ice into gunpowder by burning it on fire.
Gulliver visited the school of linguistics and mathematics school. There, professors discussed various strange projects, and teaching was also conducted using strange methods.
At the School of Political Projectors, professors searched for ways to better govern the people. The methods were also very strange.
Chapters 7–8
Gulliver took an excursion to Glabbdobdrib, an island where a tribe of wizards lives. The ruler of the island can summon the dead for 24 hours and force them to serve him.
The ruler invited Gulliver to talk with deceased famous people, and he talked with Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Homer and other celebrities.
Chapter 9
After this, Gulliver sailed to the kingdom of Luggnagg. A customs official detained him. The king ordered him to be taken under guard to the royal residence.
In the palace, Gulliver was “ordered to crawl on his belly to the throne and lick the floor.” The king gave such an honor to few.
Chapter 10
Among the Laggnazhi, children are sometimes born with a red spot above the left eyebrow - such children are immortal. They are called struldbrugs. After eighty years, they turn into weak, sick old people who are not happy with life.
Chapter 11
After Luggnagg, Gulliver sailed to Japan. He stayed there very briefly, boarded a Dutch ship in Nagasaki and arrived in Amsterdam. Then he boarded a small ship and finally, after five and a half years of absence, returned to his homeland.
Part 4. Journey to the country of the Houyhnhnms
Chapter 1
Gulliver was offered the position of captain on the merchant ship Adventurer, and he sailed on it on September 7, 1710. During the voyage, several sailors died from tropical fever, and Gulliver recruited other sailors on the islands. But then it turned out that most of them turned out to be sea robbers. They attracted the rest of the sailors to their side, arrested Gulliver and put him ashore, leaving him with only a dirk as a weapon.
Gulliver noticed strange animals in the field and in the trees. They had thick hair on their heads and chests, and many had beards similar to those of goats. Stripes of fur stretched down the front of the paws and along the back, and the skin was dark brown. They were jumping, running, and climbing trees all the time. The animals wanted to attack Gulliver, but they ran away in fear when they saw the horse. This dappled gray horse looked at Gulliver in surprise. Another horse approached him, and they began to neigh one by one, talking to each other. Their behavior was such that Gulliver wondered if they were wizards who had taken the form of horses.
In the conversation of the horses, he distinguished the word “yahoo,” which they repeated several times, and shouted this word. The horses were very surprised, one of them began to teach him the word “Houyhnhnm”, and they were amazed at his intelligence. Then the horses parted, and the gray horse motioned for Gulliver to go ahead.
Chapter 2
They approached a low, long building. The gray horse motioned for Gulliver to enter. Three horses and two mares ate hay not standing, but sitting like dogs. Other horses were doing housework.
Gulliver soon realized that intelligent Houyhnhnm horses live in this country, and they use Yahoos as pets - disgusting creatures that he saw after landing on the shore.
When the gray horse and his servant the bay horse began to compare Gulliver to a Yahoo, Gulliver noticed that the Yahoo resembled a man. He has a flat, wide face, thick lips, and a flattened nose.
The servant began to offer Gulliver some kind of root and meat of a dead donkey, that is, what the Yahoos ate, but he politely refused. He also gave up hay and oats.
A cow passed by, and Gulliver showed with signs that he wanted to milk her. Then the gray horse ordered the maid to give him a cup of milk, and he drank with pleasure. Gulliver then baked bread from the oats, since he could not eat what the horses ate.
Chapter 3
While studying the local language, Gulliver learned that horses call themselves “Houyhnhnms” and that they are the most intelligent people in this country. He told the gray horse that in his homeland the most intelligent creatures are people.
Chapter 4
When the gray horse found out that in Europe people drive horses, ride them and carry loads, he was outraged by this.
Chapters 5–6
At the request of the horse, Gulliver told him about revolutions and wars. The horse asked about their reasons, and the narrator replied that there could be many reasons: greed, ambition, difference of opinion, etc.
He explained to the horse what money is, said that in England there are very rich people and very poor ones, and that noble youth spend their time in luxury and idleness.
Chapter 7
After Gulliver's story about England, the gray horse told him that, in his opinion, people and yahoos have similarities. Yahoos are greedy, selfish, aggressive, and fight over prey.
Chapters 8–9
Gulliver lived in the country of the Houyhnhnms for three years and saw that they were inclined to virtue and did not know what evil was.
Their main virtues are benevolence and loyalty in friendship.
Houyhnhnms love both their own and other people's foals. They do not pamper them, but they treat them kindly and teach them to be tidy, work, and exercise.
Houyhnhnms use their front legs (the depression between the hoof and the pastern) in the same way that humans use their hands.
Chapter 10
Gulliver lived calmly and happily in this country and decided not to return to the people. Every four years, a council of representatives of the entire nation is held here. The council members decided that the communication of the gray horse with Gulliver, whom they took for a Yahoo, was “contrary to reason and nature.”
The gray horse was ordered to sail to where he came from. Gulliver built a boat and sailed to the nearest island.
Chapter 11
A Portuguese ship approached the island and sent a boat to the shore for fresh water. The sailors noticed the boat and began to look for its owner. When Gulliver was found, he asked to be left on the island, but the sailors thought he had gone crazy and took him to the ship by force.
After some time, Gulliver returned to his homeland, but his wife and children seemed to him like Yahoos. He bought two stallions and began to talk to them every day. They do not know what a saddle and bridle are, and they live happily.
Chapter 12
Gulliver's travels lasted sixteen years and seven months. He described them to enlighten people and instill virtue in them. Gulliver wants them to follow the example of the Houyhnhnms, who are alien to arrogance and pride.
Summary
Part I. Lilliput
Chapter 1
Gulliver's family lived on a small estate in Nottinghamshire. The boy was the third of five sons. Gulliver received a medical education, after which he worked as a ship surgeon and visited different countries. Returning to England, he married Miss Mary Burton. Soon he made several trips to the East and West Indies.
In May 1669, Gulliver set off on his next voyage on the ship Antelope. The ship was wrecked. Gulliver was the only one who managed to escape and get to land.
When Gulliver woke up, he realized that he was tied with many thin twines. Lilliputians armed with bows and spears ran around. Gulliver showed with signs that he would submit to any of their decisions and asked for a drink. By order of the king, the prisoner was fed. The food was very small, so he swallowed several portions at once.
Gulliver was taken to the capital on a specially made platform. The prisoner was placed in a huge temple, chained to his left leg with many miniature chains.
Chapter 2
The King of Lilliput ordered that Gulliver be assigned “a staff of six hundred servants.” They sewed a bedding for the prisoner from Lilliputian mattresses, a sheet and a blanket, and made a suit of local style. In Lilliput, Gulliver was called Quinbus Flestrin - “Man-Mountain”.
By order of King Gulliver, they searched him. Among his belongings were a rusty saber, two pistols, gunpowder and a pocket watch. The king was especially interested in the clock. Gulliver managed to hide his glasses and telescope.
Chapter 3
Soon Gulliver began to speak the Lilliputian language quite tolerably. To entertain the Mountain Man, the king organized a colorful fair festival. In Lilliput there was an unusual tradition - the most skilled tightrope walkers were appointed to government positions. Gulliver also pulled a handkerchief over hammered sticks, making a parade ground for cavalry battles. During the parade, horse and infantry troops passed between the Man Mountain's spread legs, as if through a large arch.
The king freed Gulliver. Only Galbet Skyresh Bolgolam, the admiral of the royal fleet, was against this decision.
Chapter 4
Gulliver communicated a lot with Secretary of State Reldresel. He told the Mountain Man that there were two warring parties in the kingdom. “The Tremexens party united supporters of high heels, while the Slemexens declared themselves supporters of low heels.” Wearing high heels is prohibited by the Constitution, since their king is a supporter of low heels.
Lilliput is also at war with its neighbor, the empire of Blefuscu. The reason was that the king's father ordered eggs to be broken only from the sharp end. Dissatisfied citizens formed a party of “blunt ends”, started a revolution, were expelled and found refuge in the Blefuscu empire. After this, the states began to quarrel.
It became known that Blefuscu was equipping a fleet and was about to attack. The king asked Gulliver for help.
Chapter 5
Lilliput occupies part of the continent, Blefuscu was an island. The two countries are separated by a wide strait. Gulliver dragged the enemy ships to the Lilliputian side across the strait using cables. For this he was awarded the most honorable title in the kingdom - nardak.
Soon the king of Lilliput demanded that Gulliver help him completely disarm his enemy, but he refused, which displeased the monarch.
Chapter 6
The chief treasurer Flimnap was jealous of his wife for Gulliver and envied his high title, so he began to weave intrigues against the giant. He informed the king that the maintenance of the Man-Mountain had cost them “one and a half million sprugs” (the largest gold coin in Lilliput), so he should be sent out of the country.
Chapter 7
A noble courtier came to Gulliver. He said that at the king’s council, at the suggestion of Reldresel, it was decided to gouge out both of the Mountain Man’s eyes. Gulliver hurried to Blefuscu.
Chapter 8
Gulliver discovered a large boat and decided to leave the Lilliputians. The Emperor of Blefuscu helped him prepare to sail. Gulliver took with him “six live cows, two bulls and the same number of sheep and rams.”
Soon Gulliver noticed an English ship at sea, on which he safely reached England. After staying with his family for no more than three months, Gulliver boarded the merchant ship Adventure.
Part II. Brobdingnagian
Chapter 1
When the ship passed the Madagascar Strait, a storm began. They were carried far to the east. Seeing the land, the sailors decided to inspect it and get fresh water. Gulliver moved away from the others. When he returned, he saw that his comrades had abandoned him, sailing away on a boat from a huge giant. The frightened man ran into the depths of the island.
Gulliver ran out to a large field where giant workers were cutting barley with sickles. One of them heard Gulliver's screams and took the little man to his farmer. The giant tried to talk to him, but they did not understand each other. During lunch, Gulliver was fed beef and bread. Because of his height, he immediately got into trouble - first the owner’s son lifted him upside down, and then the baby mistook him for a toy and tried to put him in his mouth.
Chapter 2
The farmer's nine-year-old daughter made a bed for Gulliver, sewed clothes for him, and taught him the language of giants. The girl gave Gulliver the name Grildrig, which translated means “little man”, “dwarf”. He called her Glumdalklich, that is, nanny.
Gulliver attracted the interest of other giants, so the farmer began to show him at the fair for money. The farmer took Gulliver to the capital of the kingdom of giants, called Lorbrulgrud, that is, “The Pride of the Universe.”
Chapter 3
Frequent performances undermined Gulliver's health. The farmer decided that he would soon die and happily sold the little man to the queen. Gulliver asked to take his nanny Glumdalklich into the service.
Gulliver often talked with the king. The monarch loved to hear about European morals, religion, education, laws and government, the Whig and Tory parties.
Gulliver got a lot of trouble from the palace dwarf. He constantly played tricks - he stuck a little man in an empty brain bone, shook an apple tree over him, and once even threw him into a jug of cream.
Chapter 4
Gulliver often accompanied the queen on her trips. A special travel chest was made for him.
The country of giants was located on a peninsula and separated from the mainland by a high mountain range. The kingdom was surrounded on three other sides by the ocean.
Chapter 5
Gulliver's life was generally happy, but due to his growth, troubles often happened to him. He was caught in a hail storm, was grabbed by a gardener's lapdog, was almost carried away by a kite, and once he even “tripped over a snail shell, fell and sprained his leg.”
One day, the cook's monkey grabbed Gulliver and began to rock him like a baby, and then dragged him to the roof. When people began to climb onto the roof, the monkey threw Gulliver away - fortunately, he managed to catch on the tiles.
Chapter 6
Gulliver made a comb from the hairs of the king's beard. From the queen's hair he wove a purse, as well as a back and seat for small chairs.
Once, listening to Gulliver’s stories about England, the king concluded: “Your hundred-year history is nothing more than an endless chain of conspiracies, unrest, murders, revolutions, executions and exiles! And this is generated by greed, hypocrisy, treachery, cruelty, hatred, envy, depravity and ambition.”
Chapter 7
Gulliver showed the king gunpowder and explained its destructive power. Gulliver offered to train local craftsmen in weapons making, but, to his surprise, the king refused in horror.
In schools, giants studied only history, mathematics, poetry and ethics. Printing existed here for a long time, but books were not particularly popular. The army consisted of merchants and farmers, commanded by nobles and nobles.
Chapter 8
Once Gulliver went to the southern coast with the royal family. The servant took the box with Gulliver to the sea. A sea eagle flying past grabbed the ring on the lid of the box with its beak. At some point, the bird released the box, and the captive found himself in the open sea. Gulliver barely managed to open the top hatch; he began to scream and wave his handkerchief. He was spotted from the ship and helped to get out. Nine months later he returned to England.
Part III. Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnegg, Glubbdobbrib and Japan
Chapter 1
A couple of months after arriving home, Gulliver set off again on the ship Good Hope. On the way, they were attacked by Dutch and Japanese pirates. Gulliver fell out of favor with their Dutch captain and was sent alone in a boat “to the will of the waves and winds.”
While exploring the nearby islands, Gulliver noticed a flying island above him. The man attracted attention and was lifted upstairs.
Chapter 2
The inhabitants of the island were distinguished by strange figures. “Everyone’s heads were tilted to the right or left, one eye turned inward and the other directed toward the zenith.” The servants, clymenols or flappers, "carried short sticks with inflated bull bladders tied to them." They smacked their owners with bubbles on their lips or ears, distracting them from their thoughts.
Gulliver was taken to the king and began to teach the language of the inhabitants of Laputa - the “flying island”. The capital of Laputa was the city of Lagado, located on the ground.
All thoughts of the Laputans constantly revolve around lines and figures. They consider applied geometry to be “the lot of artisans,” so their houses are built very poorly. Laputa women despise their husbands and have a penchant for foreigners. Men treat strangers with disdain.
Chapter 3
The entire lower surface of the flying island is a solid diamond slab. The main attraction of Laputa is a huge magnet, with the help of which “the island can rise, fall and move from place to place.” If the ruler of Laputa wants to punish his subjects on the continent, he stops the island above their city, thereby depriving the inhabitants of the rays of the sun and rain moisture.
The Laputans have well-developed astronomy; they “discovered two satellites orbiting Mars,” in which they were far ahead of the Europeans.
Chapter 4
Soon Gulliver went to the continent ruled by the monarch of the flying island - to the kingdom of Balnibarbi. The traveler was hosted by a local dignitary - a former governor named Munodi.
All the houses of Lagado looked dilapidated, and the people were dressed in rags. Outside the city, peasants worked in empty fields. In the village estate of Munodi, everything was the other way around - here “fenced fields, vineyards, gardens and meadows could be seen.” Munodi explained that he runs his household according to the old rules, so his compatriots despise him.
The dignitary said that about 40 years ago, some residents of the capital went to Laputa. Returning to earth, they decided to change everything and created the Projector Academy.
Chapters 5 – 6
Gulliver visited the Academy of Projectors and visited various scientists. One was engaged in a “project of distilling cucumbers for the purpose of extracting the sun’s rays from them.” The second is “the problem of converting human excrement into nutrients.” An architect came up with “a new way to build buildings, starting with the roof.” Scientists also proposed to abandon words in the language, and so that political opponents could reach an agreement, they suggested cutting out and changing parts of the brain. Gulliver visited many more offices and laboratories, but all the scientists were working on meaningless things.
Chapters 7 – 8
Gulliver went to the main port of the kingdom - Maldonada. He was invited to visit Glabbdobdrib - “the island of sorcerers and magicians.” The island was ruled by the oldest magician living on the island. He could bring the dead back to life for 24 hours. The living dead served in the ruler's palace.
The ruler proposed bringing some historical figures back to life. Gulliver asked to revive Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompey, Descartes, Gassendi, Aristotle and other famous personalities.
Chapter 9
Gulliver sails to Luggnagg. He is arrested and brought to Trildrogdrib, the residence of the king. According to the rules of the kingdom, Gulliver had to crawl on his belly and lick the dust at the foot of the throne.
Chapter 10
One noble gentleman said that “here, in Luggnagg, children are born with a red spot on their forehead” - the immortal Struldbrugs. Having reached the age of eighty, Struldbrugs suffer from all the ailments and infirmities characteristic of very old people. “Immortals are incapable of friendship,” “envy and impotent desires constantly gnaw at them.”
Chapter 11
After leaving the king's residence, Gulliver went to the royal port of Glangvenstall, from where he sailed by ship to Japan. In the Japanese port city of Nagasaki, Gulliver met Dutch sailors. With them he sailed to Amsterdam, from where he soon returned to England.
Part IV. In the land of the Houyhnhnms
Chapter 1
Gulliver spent about 5 months with his wife and children, but the desire to travel turned out to be stronger. Taking command of the merchant ship Adventurer, he set sail. Along the way he had to take on new people in Barbados. They turned out to be pirates, captured the ship and put Gulliver ashore.
Heading deeper into the mainland, Gulliver saw disgusting-looking monkey-like creatures. They surrounded Gulliver, but, noticing the approaching dappled gray horse, they immediately fled. The horse looked at Gulliver with interest. Soon another horse came up. They discussed something among themselves, and then taught Gulliver two words - “Yahoo” and “Houyhnhnm”.
Chapter 2
The gray horse led Gulliver to a building, inside of which a manger with hay stretched along the wall and other horses were located. Gulliver was not much different in appearance from the local Yahoos. He was offered Yahoo food (rotten meat), but he refused, asking for milk with signs. After lunch, Gulliver baked bread from oats, which also surprised the horse.
Horses were used by Yahoos as livestock and harnessed to carts.
Chapter 3
Gulliver began to actively study the Houyhnhnm language. The words “lie” and “deception” did not exist in their language; they had no concept of ships, states, they had no writing and literature.
Chapter 4
Gulliver explained how horses are treated in England. The gray horse was especially outraged by the fact that people rode Houyhnhnms.
Chapters 5 – 6
Gulliver told the horse in detail about history, revolution, wars, law and justice, the conduct of court affairs, what money is, the value of precious metals.
Chapters 7 – 8
Gulliver was so imbued with love and respect for the Houyhnhnms that he decided never to return to people again.
Gulliver describes that Yahoos are very difficult to train. “They are stubborn, malicious, treacherous, vengeful and completely devoid of the rudiments of nobility and generosity.” The Houyhnhnms, on the other hand, “are gifted with a good heart and have not the slightest idea of evil; the main rule of their life is a reasonable and harmonious existence.”
Chapter 9
Every fourth year, the country meets the Council of Representatives, where “the situation in the districts into which all the local land is divided is discussed.” Gulliver secretly attended one of them and heard that the Houyhnhnms considered the Yahoos useless. After the Council, it was decided that Gulliver, like a Yahoo, should be sent outside their region.
Gulliver built something like an Indian pirogue, said goodbye to the Houyhnhnms and set sail.
Chapter 10
Gulliver wanted to build a hut on the nearest island and settle down alone. But he was picked up by the sailors of a Portuguese ship. They decided that Gulliver had lost his mind, so he did not want to return home and was telling tales about intelligent horses.
After a while, Gulliver returned to his family, but the children annoyed him, and his wife seemed like a stranger. Soon he bought two foals and talked with them for several hours a day.
Conclusion
Gulliver's travels took 16 years and 7 months. In conclusion, he notes that he wrote about his travels not for the sake of fame, but “for the sake of correcting morals.” Gulliver tries to apply the lessons he learned from the Houyhnhnms. He calls his family members Yahoos and hopes to rehabilitate them. Gulliver is still disgusted by his fellow tribesmen, admiring horses. He is especially irritated by human pride.
